Primitive vs. Mechanical Music (May, 1929)
Primitive vs. Mechanical Music
STONE age men produced music by tapping a stretched hide. Today we press a button, and presto—music!
The mechanical violin whose mechanism is exposed above is one of the latest advances in the development of mechanical music. Fingering of the violin is done by the M-shaped rod, while the bow is moved by the same mechanism which twists the violin around to present the proper strings to the bow. A perforated roll, shown at the right, controls the machine.
White horsehair is used in making violin bows. Above a worker is sorting horsehair for quality.